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Harmons is scheduled to break ground today for a supermarket at the once-stalled Station Park shopping center in Farmington.
The Utah-based grocery chain is the first retailer to start construction at the 67-acre site at the intersection of Interstate 15, Highway 89, Legacy Parkway and a Frontrunner commuter rail station.
The Station Park store, slated to be completed in May 2011, will feature fresh foods and a delicatessen with chef-prepared entrees. That makes it easy for commuters to pick up finished meals to take home to hungry families, said Bob Harmon, co-owner of Harmons grocery chain.
The supermarket will offer a carving station with hot entrées, fresh wok bar, Italian gelato, gourmet cheese island, salad and olive bars, artisan bakery and a produce department featuring local and organic fruits and vegetables. The nearly 69,400-square-foot store also will have a floral department, pharmacy, credit union and gourmet-cooking accessories section.
Above, on the mezzanine, will be classrooms for cooking schools and an upscale seating area with a fireplace, dining area, couches and Wi-Fi access.
California developer CenterCal Properties had said that Harmons' decision to build broke the sluggish economic logjam that had delayed construction.
"We took measures a few years back to put ourselves in a position to work through bad economic times," said Harmon. "We've always been fiscally responsible in terms of growth — not to grow just to grow — but to grow … within our means."
Harmon said he has been patient with plans to break into the market in Davis County. He has made his home there for the past 19 years.
The chain also recently broke ground on its City Creek store in downtown Salt Lake City, with a target completion date of fall 2011. In addition, Harmons is remodeling the venerable Emigration Market in Salt Lake City. The store at 1706 E. 1300 South is expected to reopen by early 2011.
Harmons has grown from a fruit stand in 1932 to 13 stores, making the chain one of the top 20 privately owned companies headquartered in Utah. The chain employs 2,400 people and anticipates increasing its payroll by about 15 percent next year.
The Farmington store will be an anchor to the 1-million-square-foot Station Park project, which will be set in a walkable, parklike atmosphere. The Harmons store does not yet have an exact address, but it will be just south of the new Frontrunner station between Park and Clark lanes.
In addition, in two weeks, construction will begin on a 14-screen state-of-the-art Cinemark XD movie theater. The theater and a number of other buildings, whose tenants have not yet been announced, should be open in May, said Craig Trottier, a vice president at CenterCal Properties.
Plans call for more than a dozen restaurants and a broad selection of apparel, home goods and entertainment.
CenterCal Properties owns and operates seven shopping centers in the western U.S., encompassing more than 3.5 million square feet of retail, with an additional 3 million square feet under development. Its partner is the California State Teachers Retirement System, which is financing construction of Station Park.
Harmons Farmington Station store
To open • May 2011.
Location • Intersection of I-15, Highway 89, Legacy Parkway and Frontrunner commuter rail station.
Store • Patterned after the company's Bangerter Crossing flagship supermarket in Draper.
Hours • 6 a.m. to midnight, Monday-Sunday.